Exposure: Stephanie McNabb

Stephanie McNabb uses her Galaxy S3 to capture life in rural Arkansas.

Everyone knows that the early photographer gets the light. For Stephanie McNabb, the magic hour of sunrise is the first thing she sees after a long night's work. A police dispatcher and 911 operator in a small town in rural Arkansas, McNabb makes time for mobile photography when she's not working 12-hour night shifts and taking care of her two boys, ages 6 and 10.

"I take what I can get between work and our daily routine," McNabb told Connect in an email interview. "One week I might explore simple black & white and the next heavy edits. I love to find inspiration and try new things, pushing outside the comfort zone is a must!"

This photo, titled "Buckets on the horizon," is an example of McNabb's early morning observations.

McNabb shoots with a Samsung Galaxy S3, which she "absolutely loves." Her favorite apps include Camera FV-5 for manual controls and Snapseed, Pixlr Express, PicSay Pro, PicsArt and Photoshop Touch for editing.

While McNabb has a lot respect for analong photography, mobile photography seems to best fit with her schedule and budget.

"For those with a hectic lifestyle such as mine, a thin phone in my pocket is the best option," she said. "DSLR and other cameras are great and believe me, if I had the money, I would own probably one of each ... but for now, it's just me and my Galaxy S3."

McNabb's photos vary from sweeping landscapes to scenes from her personal life.

McNabb tries to make time to sharpen her skills.

"I am usually always sub-conscious of my surroundings and always snapping things that catch my eye," she said. "Challenges and the #JJ forums are always inspiring me to find the beauty in my surroundings. Occasionally I get to get out and explore or we will all take a drive through northern Arkansas just to get out. There's always a good snap around, you just have to slow down enough to see it."

One of her favorite shots was taken after getting off work and arriving home to take her kids to school.

"I see a lot of sunrises, but this one stopped me in my tracks and said 'good morning, good night,'" she recalled. "It had been a crazy night at work so it was much needed!"

McNabb took this photo with CameraFV-5 and edited it with Snapseed (ambiance +80 contast +10). "Not much needed, it really was that pretty!" she said.

Comments

I think the simplicity is what works most. So many photos would be that much better if they were just left alone. Overproduced, over edited heavy images are so blah...I think what Steph captured here has the greatest quality of all. Pure and simplistic nature. But; haters gonna hate.

Exactly. I love to create fun app stacked edits but i also love to keep it simple mostly when it comes to nature, esp. the sunrises and sunsets. In the last sunset, I could have probably made it somewhat better but I loved the feel of the fog over the mountains and looming above the water. If i edited that out just to make it "better", it really wouldn't be the photo that i intended it to be in the first place. I try to keep anything nature as close as i can to the way i perceived it. Besides, If that rude person knew the hill i was standing on over the lake just to get that shot, they might not be so inclined to be so hateful ;) but i doubt it. Thanks so much for your kind words Feenie :)

I'm sorry that you don't like my photos, but I guess to each his own. I don't use frames so not sure about that but I can say that they are set 1:1 for posting on Instagram. My photos have, I believe, become even better since this interview and am learning everday. Thank you for your comment.

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